Lady Bulldogs finish 3-1 at Big Horn Classic

The Lovell Lady Bulldogs had another busy weekend as they participated in the local Big Horn Basin Classic basketball tournament.

Due to weather, the original game scheduled for pool play on Friday had to be adjusted that morning.

Lovell began pool play in Cowley on Friday with Burlington.

The Lady Bulldogs appeared to have run away with the victory early, taking a 36-16 lead into halftime, but the Lady Huskies fought back and outscored Lovell 14-7 and 13-8 in the third and fourth quarters to come to a 51-43 final in favor of Lovell.

“We allowed them to climb back into the game instead of finishing strong,” head coach Chris Edwards said. “Kenadee Rael had a solid weekend leading our defensive effort and caused pressure on opponents to create turnovers.”

Rael’s double-double performance ended with 12 points and 10 steals in the game, and she also had six assists.

Kennadee Owens put in 11 points, and Raegan May added 10, Libby Mickelson 7, Summer Teter 4, Breeah Jones 3, Keyanna Walker 2 and Madison Wolvington 1.

Later that evening, the Lady Bulldogs continued pool play against conference foe Worland.

The game lived up to the exciting expectations of a good matchup, but when the buzzer sounded, the scoreboard was in favor of the Lady Warriors, 37-35.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t take care of the things we needed to and allowed Worland to turn the game into a half-court, physical match,” Coach Edwards said.

“They are a team that will force you to hit midrange and perimeter jump shots, and we weren’t able to hit from those spots on the court.”

Mickelson was able to pour in 11 points from inside, while Owens and Teter both had 6. Rael added 5, Jones 4, and freshman Celeste Lindsay came in and contributed 3 points.

On Saturday morning, the final pool play game left the Lady Bulldogs facing local opponent and tournament host Rocky Mountain, and Lovell came away with the 58-31 victory.

“The girls bounced back from Friday night and played with a high level of energy, especially defensively, and caused Rocky Mountain to be more uncomfortable when they had possession,” Edwards said.

The Lady Bulldogs took better care of the ball on their end and only had 10 turnovers in the match, which reflected their patience with the ball and better decision-making.

Overall, Lovell shot 56% from 2-point range and didn’t settle for rushed shots.

“We were able to pass up good shots for great shots,” Edwards said about the higher shot percentage. “And being in that position, it was nice to get lots of girls court time that game.”

The Lady Bulldogs had 10 girls in the scoring column led by Teter with 13. Lindsay had 8, Rael 7, Owens 5, Mickelson 5, and both Jones and Becca Nichols had 4. Raegan Walker added 3 while May, Lauryn Marchant, Krysta McIntosh and CeCe Collins had 2 apiece.

The Lady Bulldogs then traveled to Powell to compete against the Riverside Lady Rebels to ensure that each team in the tournament had a third game, and Lovell came out on top 50-22.

“It was another good opportunity to work on the things we need to get better at as a team,” Edwards said. “At times we didn’t have the necessary energy, but that is to be expected after playing four games in two days.”

The scrappy 2-3 zone played by the Lady Rebels forced Lovell out of the paint, and both May and Jones were able to hit multiple three-pointers.

“Having those girls hit some outside shots is a good sign moving forward since most teams will defend us similarly,” Edwards said.

May finished with 11 points, Jones 8, Mickelson and Owens 7, Teter 5, Rael 4 and Wolvington, Walker, Nichols and Lindsay 2 apiece.

The Lovell Lady Bulldog junior varsity girls won both of their games over the weekend, defeating Burlington 51-39 and Worland 46-28.

Friday Night

Looking ahead to Friday night, the Lady Bulldogs will begin conference play at home against the Worland Lady Warriors.

“It’s important to start the conference season 1-0,” Edwards said. “We know what to expect from them and their contrasting style in the half court and our ability to stretch them out into the full court and in transition.

“We are hoping to use our presses to make their guards ballhandlers instead of ball movers,” he continued. “We’re excited to be at home and to feed off the home crowd and hopefully put a lot of points on the board. Each girl will need to contribute and make plays they are capable of making and not force things above our abilities.”

The JV games will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, followed by the varsity girls at 5:30 and the varsity boys at 7.